The microcomputer industry has been built upon a few application types. Word processors and spreadsheets make up the majority of applications sold. Other popular application categories include databases, desktop publishing, presentation graphics, drawing, and myriad games.
Windows NT Performance Monitor is not like any of these. It is an entirely new type of application, so we are all amateurs in its use. If you invest the time to learn how to use Performance Monitor, you will be repaid with knowledge of a powerful tool. You will be able to understand a computer running Windows NT in a way that few people ever understood the computers they have used. This knowledge will enable you to do your job more effectively, or at least provide you with a great conversation topic at parties.
In Chapter 2 we will discuss the rationale behind the Performance Monitor feature set. This goes beyond just listing features to indicate how and why each one is useful. In the following chapters we will explore what you can measure on Windows NT, and what those measurements tell you. Reading this will empower you to hunt bottlenecks in the densest, darkest networks of computers!